Dog Kennel Coops

[wasatusay]

I have a friend who uses old trampolines. If you half them and use pipe for legs you can make them as high as you want. Makes good runs covered in chicken wire or mesh. Also as carport for motorcycle or just shade area. Usually if some one has an old frame in the yard they are glad to give it to you just to get rid of it.
He has also used the really old,big satellite dishes. One that was solid material (not sure exactly what) he made a little gazebo to just sit under and one for a roof to a round coop and the open metal type just as a shade/protection area for the chickens and goats to stand under.

 

[nightshade]

I love our dog kennels they are so easy to work with and they can be made to look nice with a little creativity.We use them only for the runs and build wooden coops attached to them.

I know when we move the one difference I will have though is a solid roof over teh kennel area so that there is less mud where I am walking all the time. And more area with no snow in the winter. Right now we have a 12x30 kennel area and another 40x40 bank fenced in with 4 ft wire. It all covered with Chicken wire and bird netting. We also have tarps over the kennel area. Our kennel area is also wrapped in chicken wire around the bottom to keep any little fuzzy butts that may be hatched out inside, inside the fence.

It is just way to much maintence to be replacing the wire, or netting and tarps every fall because it just does not hold up to the snow load. I figure what I spend extra in materials to build a solid roof over the kennel area I would have spent over a few years fixing it the hard way.

What we have now gives me enough area that I can have my tub for my call ducks and some landscaping in and out side the kennel to make it look nice. I know when we move I am adding some grass boxes to the floor in a few areas as well.

I will definently going to keep using kennels though they are just to easy to add more to and move if need and quick to put up. They are also easy to come by, about twice a year I find them on our local freecycle or craigslist. And they are in the one local paper here at least once a month for about 100 bucks. Compared to other fencing and labor, ect I think that they are a great way to go.

 

[Jay13]

A word of caution about using dog kennel panels to keep dogs or other critters out. They don't always work, and you should plan on a back up. We had our dogs break out of our kennel in 5 different places before we had to give up and tie them up for the remainder of this heat cycle. Coming up next is going to have to be field fence burried a foot in the ground and tied with heavy duty ties to the kennel to prevent more Houdini type escapes.

Here is how it happens, the try to dig down and then find a spot between where the chain link ends and is attached to the bottom pole. Then they push and push until there is a hole big enough for them to squeeze through. Because of the way that chainlink is constructed, it is VERY flexible, this is why it needs so much support. This flexibility is its weakest point. Here are the pictures of the havoc my dogs have done on our kennel the last few days. You can see where we have tried to repair it several times with coathangers, heavy metal wire and at one point we had it blocked off with old tires... They just shoved them out of the way.

then when the dogs couldn't get out from the bottom, they pushed through the MIDDLE of the pannel. The lesson, never underestimate a dog with a will. On the good side and lucky for us, our chickens are housed behind electric fence line that the dogs have a LOT Of respect for, we are looking into running a hot line around the kennel, but the logistics are tough.

They moved a pile of tires, and chewed through a heavy duty tarp to go under this bit of the fence.

Here you can see that we even tried putting welded wire over the top of the chain link, but they went right through it. We tried to bend the middle distorted section back the way it belonged after the escape.

edited to add: And these are BIG German shepherds, its amazing how small a space they can fit through!

 

[KellyandKatie]

okay- so I am thinking I am doing a solid wood roof, and at the bottom a finer mesh- how far deep do I have to bury the finer fencing to keep out diggers? a foot? 6 inches?
or do you let it lay on top- like a skirt?
what do you all do to keep animals from going under it?
i have added a ga-jillion zip tyes to reinforce where the chin link meets the bars

 

[mainchick]

Quote:
That is so cool! The dog run thing is a great idea!!

we had a dog "break out" of a chainlink and cement enclosure at the shelter once!! The dog was a stray and I believe he was feral or extremely freaked out. Animal control brought him in and put him in the holding kennel in the very early AM. In the morning when we got to the shelter, he had busted out!! The fencing was just torn open and there was blood all over from him breaking his teeth trying to get out. Poor guy! They found him later, he survived! I don't know what happened with him though. Anyways, I know a dog can break in or out if they really wanted to, but it is uncommon.

 

[redhen]

nice coops guys! i have 2 dog kennels just sitting around here..and i need a new coop....thanks for the ideas!

 

[thecochincoop]

Quote:
I don't have my fence burried in is just laying under the kennel with the panels of the kennel in the middle of the fence.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Anyone know who sells kennels for the least amount of money? Lowe's, Home Dept, TSC? I have a 10x10 that I use a as a mini run attached to my big coop, but am thinking of a smaller one for a summer coop/tractor that I can move around.

 

[ursusarctosana]

Quote:
Do you have a filter on your duck pond? If so, which type are you using and does it work well?

 

[thecochincoop]

I had a laguna koi pond filter from petsmart. It got messy really quick. I found that the best thing to do was to keep the food away from the water and just keep cleaning the filter. The best thing to do would be to buy a heavy duty pump and use that.